This invention relates to toy vehicles and, more particularly, to three wheel scooter-like vehicles.
Vehicles of this type generally are intended for use by small children who lack the agility and muscular development to operate tricycles and bicycles. These vehicles therefore are designed to provide stability and simplicity of operation, often at the expense of other desirable features such as versatility, maneuverability, and agility.
A typical three wheel scooter includes a steerable front wheel and two spaced apart rear wheels, together with a support platform located between the front and rear wheels. This platform is mounted at the same level or is depressed below the level of the wheel axles to provide a low center of gravity. The handle bars for steering the front wheel are mounted atop a vertical support located at the front end of the vehicle for access by a child standing on the platform. Due to the forward location of the handle bars, the child tends to maintain his or her weight on the platform near the middle of the scooter. As a consequence, all three vehicle wheels are in continuous contact with the ground, so the vehicle tends to remain upright and is resistant to tipping forces.
As will now be apparent, the typical three wheel scooter is unsatisfactory to more developed children, who desire to tip and balance their vehicles with selected wheels out of contact with the ground, to ride backwards, and to perform other tricks or maneuvers not attainable with three wheel scooters due to the inherent limitations designed into such vehicles. One such maneuver, known as a "wheelie," involves lifting the front wheel while the remaining wheel or wheels remain in contact with the ground. For this reason, such children prefer more complex and hence expensive toy vehicles such as bicycles.